There was nothing biting, winter-wise, Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field. No snow, no wind, no threat of frostbite.

And the only thing in hibernation for most of three quarters was the vaunted Philadelphia Eagles offence. Especially its league-leading rushing attack.

So there wasn’t any reason the New Orleans Road Saints couldn’t play like their far more lethal alter-egos, the New Orleans Home Saints, in their NFC wild-card game against the Eagles.

That they eventually did after a shaky first half, in a thrilling 26-24 victory.

Placekicker Shayne Graham drilled a 31-yard field goal as time expired — his fourth of the game without a miss — to lift the Saints.

As impressive as quarterback Drew Brees played after an uncharacteristic two-interception first half, it was the Saints’ own rushing attack that really crushed the Eagles.

“It was just a great team effort, and that’s what it takes to win big games on the road like this,” said Saints running back Mark Ingram, who rushed for 97 yards.

Through three quarters the Saints outrushed the Eagles 144-58, even with No. 1 running back Pierre Thomas not dressed due to a back injury. The Saints finished with a 185-80 edge in yardage — a real shocker.

Ingram, normally the second-stringer, averaged more than five yards per carry (5.4). So did rookie Khiry Robinson (5.6), who added 45 yards.

“We know that when we run the ball, we’re hard to beat,” Ingram said. “It opens up the entire offence and just keeps the defence (off-balance) … The coaches did a great job of dialing up the right runs.”

I asked Ingram, a first-round draft pick in 2011 who has not met expectations, if this was his best performance as a pro.

“I would say yes,” he said. “In a playoff game — that meant a lot. The fact that Pierre went down stepped up my role. But it wasn’t just me, it was the entire team, and the entire running back group.

“Khiry ran hard. Darren Sproles had some good runs. The line did such a great job getting a push off the line and getting up to the second level, giving us seems to run through.”

From the first play of the game, when Ingram busted loose around end for 17 yards, the Saints found that they could run it almost at will, at times, against an Eagles rush defence that ranked 10th in the league after the regular season.

The Saints overcame a 7-6 halftime deficit and drove for two third-quarter touchdowns, mostly behind the running of Ingram and slick passing by Brees.

But once the Eagles fell behind 20-7 with 3:54 left in the third quarter, with the game slipping away, quarterback Nick Foles, league-leading rusher LeSean McCoy and the Eagles offence finally cranked it up.

They’d gone three-and-out on four of their first seven possessions.

McCoy’s one-yard touchdown run, a 31-yard Alex Henery field goal and a three-yard Foles touchdown pass to tight end Zach Ertz allowed the Eagles to claw back and take a 24-23 lead, with just 4:54 remaining in the game.

That was far too much time for the Saints, though.

Sproles returned the ensuing kickoff 39 yards, and a 15-yard horse-collar tackle set up the Saints at the Philly 48 before Brees and Co. even stepped onto the field.

A six-yard pass and a slew of runs put the Saints into position to win. Graham, a 13-year veteran whom the Saints picked up on Dec. 18 after cutting Garrett Hartley, rose to the occasion.

Graham now is 6-for-6 on field goals in three games as a Saint, his 10th NFL team.

For much of the second half, it was just as though the Saints offence was playing back at the Superdome, where its offensive output of 34 points per game was nearly double that on the road.

The Saints lost their last three road games of the regular season, including five of the last six, after opening the season 5-0. And the franchise had never won a road playoff game.

Head coach Sean Payton seemed emotional afterward, referencing all the talk about the team’s road woes, as well even as the bounty scandal.

“With all that stuff, including last year, that we’re sitting here with 12 wins — I’m extremely proud of them,” Payton said of his players.

As early as pre-game warmups, the Saints didn’t seem fazed one bit by the -4C temperature in Philly.

Most players didn’t wear longsleeve garments underneath their uniforms. Most coaches and sideline personnel just layered up with hoodies on top, and few wore tuques.

The Saints, as the lowest seed in the NFC, next play the top-seeded Seahawks in Seattle next Saturday in a divisional-round playoff game.

Five weeks ago, Seattle obliterated New Orleans on a Monday night, 34-7. But if the Saints can run it anything close like this in the Pacific Northwest, their odds of succeeding will rise dramatically.

No. 2 seed Carolina next Sunday plays host to the winner of the San Francisco at Green Bay game.

Payton’s overall playoff record since 2006 improved to 6-3 (.667). And he’s now 1-3 on the road.